Series A Performances

Description

Joins us for a Series of New Plays About the Middle East! Below you will find descriptions of each individual work in our exciting Series A and B.

Series A November 1–18, 2012 at NOH Space

"War and Peace"by Tawfiq al-Hakim, translated by May Jayyusi and David Wright, directed by Hafiz Karmali

Meet Politica, a vivacious woman, who must choose between her domineering husband War and oft-disappointing lover Peace. Funny and subtle, this symbolic play by Egypt’s foremost playwright could keep a senior seminar in a political science department busy for weeks.

The mother of a dead soldier cannot reconcile her conflicted feelings about the Iraqi War. El Guindi, the 2011 winner of the prestigious Middle East America Award, paints a tender and complicated portrait of the ultimate pain of losing a child.

In 2011, Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Tony Kushner was blocked from receiving an honorary degree from CUNY for his criticism of Israel. Palestinian-American physicist Kamal and his philosopher daughter Alia take their outrage to the stage, but, first, can they really prove that they are human?

At a hi-fi shop and a disco in London and a war field in Iraq, the inherent racism and sexism of the bravura male culture is brilliantly skewered in this funny and hard-hitting play by the William Saroyan Prize winner Silva Semerciyan.

"In the Days That Follow" (World Premiere)by Jen Silverman, directed by Christine Young

In this poignant play by up-and-coming writer Jen Silverman, former Israeli soldier Orh follows Lebanese poet Iman to the United States mesmerized by the haunting beauty of her poetry. Can their mutual love of words heal the personal and political wounds they carry?

"2012" (World Premiere)by Farzam Farrokhi, directed by Sara Razavi

Three strangers on cell phones walk into a café. It might sound like a joke, but this could be the end of the world. Introducing local playwright Farzam Farrokhi.

An Arab Jewish immigrant finds a dead man in the seedy hotel he cleans in Camden, NJ, and tells the body of this stranger his deepest secrets. The MacArthur “Genius” Award winner Naomi Wallace returns to the ReOrient Festival for the fourth time with this brilliant monologue.

"Orhan" (World Premiere)by E.H. Benedict, directed by Evren Odcikin

Young British man Orhan, half Turkish and half black, finds himself incarcerated as a terrorist for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Local writer Elizabeth Benedict explores the deep-rooted complications of being mixed race in a culture that defines everything as us against them.

What does it take to get out of Iraq with a Iraqi passport? Iraqi playwright Amir al-Azraqi takes us on the absurd journey of visas, rejections, and searches that most Middle Easterners experience at airports with this tour-de-force play with movement.

A novice secret agent is eager to prove himself when he is assigned to spy on an underground rebel guerilla team led by Qobad, a high-valued prisoner. As this taut spy thriller unravels, will he be able to hold onto his skin against all odds?